Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Kenya
Kenya: Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents was 13.3% in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Kenya, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Kenya recorded 13.3% for share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in 2020. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
That represents a change of up 16.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Kenya peaked at 13.3% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 1950.
That places Kenya 102nd out of 180 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1960s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1970s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2 |
| 1980s | 2.8% | 0.0% | 5.6% | 2 |
| 1990s | 6.9% | 6.4% | 7.4% | 2 |
| 2000s | 8.6% | 8.4% | 8.8% | 2 |
| 2010s | 12.0% | 11.5% | 12.4% | 2 |
| 2020s | 13.3% | 13.3% | 13.3% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Kenya
More reference data data for Kenya
- Spring temperature anomalies -1.09 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.7428 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.7503 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.5834 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies 1.22 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 267.82 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Kenya?
- Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Kenya was 13.3% in 2020, according to European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents recorded in Kenya?
- The highest recorded value was 13.3% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents recorded in Kenya?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 1950.
- How does Kenya rank for share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
- Kenya ranks 102nd out of 180 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents rising or falling in Kenya?
- Over the last ten years it is up 16.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Kenya data come from?
- The figures come from European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of population living in cities with more than 1 million residents. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of the total population living in cities with 1 million or more people. City boundaries are defined using a consistent global approach based on satellite imagery and population data.